20-yr-old Bajrang Dal activist murdered, tension in Vidisha

Deepak Kushwah, 20, was alone when he was attacked with sharp weapons in Totpura locality.

THERE WAS tension in Vidisha town on Saturday after a Bajrang Dal activist was allegedly murdered near his home.

Deepak Kushwah, 20, was alone when he was attacked with sharp weapons in Totpura locality. The assailants reportedly included at least 12 Muslims and one Hindu youth. Kushwah’s relatives took him to the district hospital, where he died of excessive bleeding from his legs.

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As news of his death spread, right-wing organisations forced shops in the town to down shutters. The VHP has called a bandh

on Sunday, forcing the administration to seek reinforcements from Bhopal.

Kushwah had joined the Bajrang Dal recently as a co-convener of the town. The police said the attack was a fallout of a complaint filed in Kotwali police station on November 7 by one Javed, alias Bhaiyyu Pathan, who accused Kushwah of forcing him to consume alcohol.

The police registered a case against Kushwah under Sections 294 (obscene words), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. The police later registered a case against Javed under the same IPC sections on a complaint from Kushwah, who alleged that Javed picked a fight with him for no reason.

The two sides had apparently struck a compromise. The police said the reason for Saturday’s attack is still not clear.

Vidisha SP D S Chaudhary told The Sunday Express that 11 of the 13 accused named by Kushwah’s relatives had been rounded up, and that the accused include a Hindu youth, Ajay Rajput. He said the town is tense but under control, and that a couple of instances of stone-pelting had been reported.

Additional SP Sanjiv Sinha said a company of Rapid Action Force from Bhopal had been summoned to assist the local police.